The popularGreenport Express Miniature Railroadwill chug back onto the tracks this weekend after an engine failure cut short its 2025 season.
The mini train was sent to a shop in Pennsylvania, which rebuilt the failed engine. The engine runs on a Wisconsin motor that has been out of production since the 1970s, making parts and expertise difficult to find.
“The engine was sent out and was totally rebuilt and placed back in the train,” Greenport Rotary treasurer Richard Israel told The Suffolk Times. “We should have no more issues.”
Mr. Israel declined to provide financial details on how much the repairs cost.
The train has been running since the mid-1980s and has become a village tradition for the children who ride it.
“It’s very beloved by the locals because it represents their history,” said Arlene Klein, Greenport Rotary’s public relations and program chair. “It’s fun, and you wait all year for it to open. It has gone through many generations.”
Frank Field, a Long Island Rail Road engineer who moved to Greenport in the 1970s, built the first mini-railroad behind his Webb Street home. From 1985 to 2012, he offered free rides to local children on Sundays.
When Mr. Field retired, he approached the Greenport Rotary in hopes of keeping the tradition alive. The revived train, nicknamed the “Joe Cherry Choo Choo,” honors late Rotarian Joe Cherepowich,who led the initial campaign to relocate the train and died in 2019.
The train is now located on village-owned property on Moores Lane next to the Greenport Skate Park, after the Rotary and village officials explored several possible locations, including Mitchell Park and the area near the North Ferry terminal.
“We’ve built a quarter-mile track that goes through Moore’s Woods, and it’s a scenic little place,” Mr. Israel said.
Source: The Suffolk Times
